Pull an ox's horn while it's still hot.
The very next day, I began learning martial arts from Baek-no.
Honestly, at first I didn't think taking my first steps into martial arts would be all that hard.
'When I played, all it took to learn a martial art was a click.'
But that was only the game.
Reality was different.
"To learn martial arts, the first thing is to feel the qi drifting inside your body."
"Sit in the lotus position, close your eyes, and relax your body. Then breathe slowly and deeply. Then you will see it. The qi drifting inside your body."
I knew all this already. I had read the explanations until I was sick of them.
But actually doing it myself didn't go the way I wanted.
Starting with the lotus position. It was incredibly uncomfortable.
'...People train in this position every day?'
I was told to relax, but my body kept tensing on its own. Getting used to this position looked like it wouldn't be easy.
But humans are creatures of adaptation, as they say.
With time, I did get used to it.
But the posture was only the beginning.
According to Baek-no.
"Normally, the hardest part of entering the martial path is feeling the qi inside your body."
"Feel the qi. It is easy to say, but to someone taking their first steps in martial arts, it is like a Zen riddle."
"So it usually takes about half a month. Until one can feel the thing called qi inside the body."
"And that is for those with some talent. Those of ordinary talent mostly take a month, and those with no talent may never feel it in their whole lives."
That was why many people dropped out at this stage, apparently. Something I never knew when I played the game.
In the game, it was usually just click— and done.
So, privately, I was worried.
'...Will I be able to feel qi?'
There were no martial arts in the world I had lived in. I wondered if someone with no foundation at all could feel qi.
Sure, I knew the theory inside out.
And I prided myself on knowing this world better than anyone.
But theory and practice are worlds apart. I couldn't help worrying.
But I soon learned.
That my worries had been pointless.
Not long after I sat down in the lotus position and began trying to feel the qi inside me.
'...Is this it?'
I found something that seemed to be qi.
-Qi is an energy without form that carries warmth.
Just as this world's rules said: a faint energy drifting freely through the body, a formless, somehow warm energy.
It was so fast it made my worrying pointless. Which was what puzzled me.
'How did this happen? This easily?'
But the question didn't last long.
'It's because of the Nine Yang Severed Meridians.'
I had forgotten for a moment.
The constitution I was born with.
Normally, Severed Meridians granted a natural gift to the one born with them, at the cost of their lifespan.
Of course, nobody knew what field the gift would be in. But everyone born with Severed Meridians had one thing in common.
And that was...
'A sharper qi sense.'
Those born with Severed Meridians usually suffered tremendous pain every day.
To name two.
The Nine Yang Severed Meridians, from yang qi.
The Nine Yin Severed Meridians, from yin qi.
Tormented by such energy every day, they couldn't help becoming sensitive to qi.
That was why I had been able to feel the qi in my body so quickly.
'I forgot for a second. About the return that comes with Severed Meridians.'
Once I understood what had happened, I moved right on to the next step.
'Feeling qi is just one step toward learning a martial art.'
Now it was time to learn the martial art I had set out to learn. I immediately called up the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture's formula in my head.
Inhale as if Taking In a Mountain
Exhale as the Sea Settles.
The Mind Guards the Qi Center
Qi Returns to the Root
The entry formula of the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture.
To learn the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture, you had to interpret and understand this formula.
Not just this one; every martial art was like that. And this was usually the part where people got stuck in the game.
Click— or not, you still had to interpret the formula to learn anything.
Baek-no said as much, too.
"Feeling qi in the first place is no easy matter, but what comes next is harder still."
"Because to truly enter a martial art, you must understand its formula, which is its essence."
But not me.
'What I was worried about was whether I could feel qi. Understanding the formula was never the problem.'
I knew this world extremely well. And that included its martial arts.
Of course, I had never once seen the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture's formula.
But I understood it from the moment I first saw it.
Maybe it was because I had seen so many formulas. The picture formed in my head on its own.
What the formula meant.
'Inhale as if taking in a mountain. Exhale as the sea settles.'
When you breathe in, do it as though receiving a mountain; when you breathe out, as though the sea were settling.
'The mind guards the qi center, qi returns to the root.'
Keep your intent in the qi center, and let your energy return to its root.
As I pictured the interpreted formula, the path to guide the qi came to mind.
Hundred Convergences.
Hall of Impression.
Chest Center.
Middle Cavity.
Sea of Qi.
Qi center.
'From the crown of the head to between the brows, the chest, the solar plexus, and finally below the navel, to the qi center.'
Moving qi I had already found wasn't hard. I slowly moved the qi in that order.
A cool sensation began to wrap my whole body from the crown of my head down. And the moment the qi finally reached my qi center.
Whoosh—!
The cool sensation peaked.
And I felt it.
Drip, drip.
A small pool of water gathering in my qi center.
It was cold and chill.
Still and dark.
It was an energy I had never felt before, but I knew at once what it was.
'Water qi.'
The energy of the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture.
Right.
I had finally succeeded.
In learning the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture.
[ You have successfully learned the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture. ]
Hearing the chime confirm it, I eased my eyes open.
And saw a pitch-dark sky.
"Hoh—"
And Baek-no, still keeping watch at my side.
"My heartfelt congratulations."
He had been watching me with fascination, and bowed when our eyes met. I asked him.
"How long has it been?"
It felt like it had taken less than an hour.
But seeing the sky, bright just a little while ago, now pitch-dark, a fair amount of time seemed to have passed.
"It is now the fifth day."
"...Five days?"
More time had passed than I thought.
'I thought it hadn't even been a day, and it took five?'
I was privately stunned.
So this was the state of selfless absorption I had only heard about. They say that when you're absorbed in one thing, you lose track of time. They were exactly right.
Just then.
"To think you would not only feel qi in a mere five days, but enter a martial art as well..."
Baek-no's meaningful voice pierced my ears. I looked over and found him gazing down at me with gleaming eyes.
"Search all of history, and no one has ever felt qi and entered a martial art in five days."
Something about Baek-no was different from usual. His tone, and the way he looked at me.
"Even those history called the Strongest Under Heaven, even those who vied to be the greatest of all time, took at least seven days and nights. And yet, five days."
His tone.
The look in his eyes as he watched me.
In them, I could sense something I hadn't felt from him before: interest.
"So this is why you asked me to teach you martial arts."
"......"
"To rise to a position equal to the other Highnesses in this palace, you would need new strength."
"......"
"Now I understand. Why you sought to learn martial arts. It must be because you knew you had a natural gift."
The look Baek-no gave me grew stranger still. It seemed he was misunderstanding something.
"Making your move in earnest the moment you awakened your power means you have been planning this since long ago."
"......"
"Perhaps you have even found a way to cure that constitution of yours. You, Your Highness, who kept your fangs hidden all this time."
"......"
Hiding my fangs? What fangs.
I wanted to tell him he was wrong.
But I couldn't.
FWOOSH—!
The tremendous fire qi that had been raging inside me for a while now wouldn't let me open my mouth.
Right.
I had forgotten for a moment.
'Being like this for half a month means...'
Half a month without my decoction.
That could mean only one thing.
"Have you found it? And are you now planning to move in earnest..."
Forget moving in earnest.
'...Damn, it—'
Unable to bear the tremendous pain, I passed out on the spot.
Thump—
This damned body of mine.
***
They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
They say it because people manage to adapt to all sorts of situations.
But I never thought I'd get used to passing out.
Swish—
I eased my eyes open. A now-familiar cupboard came into view.
"...Baek-no must have carried me here."
Before, I had needed a moment to think, but now I took passing out and waking in my room for granted.
Which wasn't a good thing.
It meant my body was in that bad a shape.
But I figured it would happen less often from now on.
'Status Window.'
[Name] Ju Muk-rin
[Age] 19
[Status] Third Prince
[Realm] Third-rate
[Inner Arts] Under 1 year
[Martial Arts] Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture, Stage 1
[Trait] Nine Yang Severed Meridians
[Authority] Instant Kill
[Weapon] Sealed, White Scale Sword
The first Status Window I had opened since becoming part of this world. And in its martial arts field, the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture was clearly written.
[ The water qi of the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture calms the fire qi. ]
Now that I had learned the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture, I wouldn't be dropping like a fly— not like this.
Of course, if I pushed myself too hard, I would still collapse.
And...
Gulp— gulp—
I still had to keep drinking the decoction like this. Though it would go from once a day to once every three or four days.
"Ugh—"
I downed in one go the decoction Baek-no seemed to have left, set the empty bowl on the side table, and looked at the Status Window.
'A Status Window that looks pathetic and yet doesn't.'
Going by my realm and inner arts alone, it was truly pathetic. And my Trait, too.
Of course, once cured, the Nine Yang Severed Meridians would become an incredible Trait, but for now it was still uncured and pathetic.
But leaving that aside, the martial art and weapon I had were not things you could get this early.
The Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture was one.
But especially that White Scale Sword.
'It's sealed now. But once the seal is broken...'
That White Scale Sword would be just as helpful as the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture.
The final mastermind of this world, should I call him? That sword was the very thing that stood opposite him.
Well, all of that depended on breaking the seal, but that didn't matter to me.
I knew.
How to break that sword's seal.
'But I can't break it right now.'
So for now, just having it was what counted; what I had to do right now was add to my martial arts.
'To survive in this world right now, I need to learn martial arts that will help.'
And with those martial arts as my foundation, I had to get out of this Imperial Palace at once.
Now, when there was no telling when a Trial would begin.
To steer events the way I wanted, going somewhere familiar was the right move.
I already had a place in mind.
So I set out right away to combine and learn the martial arts I had brought out of the vault.
But the moment I saw the notification that followed, I had no choice but to freeze.
Why, you ask?
[ Conditions met. ]
[ Conditions ]
I. Nine Yang Severed Meridians
II. Learn the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Scripture or one of the martial arts tied to the Four Divine Beasts.
[ With the conditions met, an Objective has been generated for you. ]
- Learn every martial art tied to the Four Divine Beasts
...Because a notification I had never seen before in my life had appeared before my eyes.